Feenix Autore review: Style, elegance and quality

Feenix is all about style, quality and elegance. The Southern California PC gaming peripheral company limits their production per month to assure excellence. The value that Feenix places on their products are to be commended, and I've been impressed since I reviewed the Feenix 2014 Nascita gaming mouse. And they impressed me even more when they revealed the Aria headset.

Enter their mechanical gaming keyboard effort, the Autore (the Italian word for author). The Autore keeps in line with Feenix's standards, delivering a minimalist design that's both elegant and stylish. The Autore features gold-plated Cherry MX Brown switches -- slightly quieter and easier to trigger than Cherry MX Blue switches. There's still a little tactile feedback, so you'll feel the actuation and a bit of the clicking sound, it just won't be that loud. The keys are also have a double Polyurethane layer and an aluminum coating; this means that the keys won't fade or wear down. It'll have more durability. Feenix also claims the Autore is resistant to water damage, so if you want to be the one to test that ... have at it. I refuse to.

The body of the Autore is hefty. It's a really sturdy keyboard that should be the face of high-quality keyboards, with a slight upward angle to the keyboard. That said, there are some features missing in the Autore that I personally think should be included in every gaming keyboard.

I understand that Feenix doesn't focus on gimmicks, bells and whistles with their peripherals, instead stressing the virtues of their company, but two things irked me. First, I was quite surprised that the keys don't illuminate. Every keyboard I've had in the past seven or eight years have had the keys light up. Even though I'm not looking down at the keyboard while I'm playing a game or typing, the lighting helps the atmosphere. And in the event I do need to look down at the keyboard while in a dark room, I'm out of luck. The only three lights that you'll find on the keyboard are those for the lock light, positioned vertically on the top-right corner of the keyboard, and they're illuminated with a jewel-white lighting. It's bright and gorgeous, and I wish all of the keys were able to illuminate like those lock lights.

The second feature I was surprised was missing was a USB port. Gamers have lots of stuff to plug into USB ports. While I have a USB hub and slots located in the rear of my PC, ease of access at the keyboard is always a nice feature to include.

Again, these two missing features don't ruin the Autore, but they're two ease of life things that would have been nice to be included.

Overall, the Autore is an excellent keyboard. If you're looking for a minimalist keyboard that stresses style, elegance, and high quality without sacrificing comfort, this is the keyboard for you. What's more, if you buy the Feenix Autore, you get your own personally assigned support manager. I love what Feenix stands for, and I really, really like -- not love -- the Autore. Whether you're mostly using it for gaming or typing, it's an excellent choice if shopping for a mechanical keyboard. The Feenix Autore retails for $163.

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com